Madej, a manager at an Oak Street art gallery, served as the Chicago Engineers' Foundation, which provides scholarships to Chicago high-school graduates who study engineering in college, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office. The fund receives its money from Union League Club of Chicago members' montly dues as well as fundraisers and private contributions, prosecutors said.

Police say an audit last year discovered that Madej was reportedly writing checks to herself from the foundation account.

Madej "admitted to writing herself unauthorized paychecks and to taking money far beyond her expenses, citing financial difficulties as the reason," according to a filing in the case.

Madej is charged with a theft over $100,000, a Class 1 felony for which she could serve up to 15 years in prison, according to court documents. Between 1999 through 2009, Madej wrote 252 unauthorized checks to herself, totaling $289,901, according to prosecutors.

The theft amounted to half of the total amount the scholarship fund distributed over the same 10-year period, prosecutors said.

"Arguably, absent Defendant's theivery, twice as many needy high school students could have benefited from CEF's financial aid," Assistant State's Attorney Nicholas Turtenko said in the court filing today.